The Register's editorial: Time has come for lawmakers to pay, too

Free health insurance is out of sync with the rest of Iowa

1:15 AM,
Mar. 16, 2013

Iowa's lawmakers are not considered full-time employees because Iowans want them to live in the same world the rest of us live in. In that world, people contribute toward the cost of their health insurance. It?s time for lawmakers to do the same.

Written by

The Register?s Editorial Board

Iowans know that a job is not just about the money you make. It's also about having access to health insurance. Without help from an employer, that coverage often can be unaffordable or unavailable.

Iowa lawmakers are getting plenty of help from their employer - the public - when it comes to this benefit. Though they are part-time state employees and most part-time employees in America do not receive health insurance, members of the Legislature latched onto benefits negotiated by state employee unions on behalf of full-time state workers.